The main challenge, according to Mr Zulli, is finding a balance between compliance, support and commercial reality.

“That’s the fine balance that is always difficult to find. Particularly that you’ve got regulators that are asking a hell of a lot more questions, that’s also being reflected in our dealings with our product providers,” Mr Zulli said.

“The amount of due diligence that we’re actually now receiving back from product providers, as we transition advisers to our licenses has increased, increased exponentially. There’s a lot more paperwork, there’s a lot more proof that you actually have to provide before they’ll even give you an ability to use their products.”

He commented his company is thinking of where its own advice business will move, although changes to its business mode are yet to be confirmed.

The Sydney-based advisory and investment management group has three licenses, each catering to a different service offered by its authorised representatives.

Its main advice licence for advisers is Consilium Advice, while it has a solution for accountants, recommended for SMSF strategies (SMSF Super Advisory) as well as a license for private wealth advisers with wholesale clients, Premium Advisory.

“I’ve got some views about where I believe we should take our advice business. But there are further discussions where we need to be having before we make any significant changes to our business model,” Mr Zulli said.

“Anyway, this is where we are is because we’re a relatively young advice business. We can actually address what we look like based on what’s actually happening in more recent times.”

The conference is hosted by Australian Advisory, industry body United Financial Advisers Association (UFAA) and broker firm Vision Aggregation, with over 350 attendees, including advisers, mortgage brokers and accountants.